Yesterday, we looked at some of the best examples of viral marketing to come out in recent years. But for every success story, there are many other examples of campaigns that have gone horribly wrong, or simply gone nowhere at all. There is a famous saying which goes: “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most epic viral marketing ...

According to a recent survey by mobile research firm, research2guidance, the smartphone app market is enjoying explosive growth and is currently worth $2.2-billion dollars, with 42.7-million smartphones operational in the United States alone.Apple started the trend towards mobile apps with their "great leap forward" -- the iPhone app store. But momentum has shifted and most app developers believe that by 2013 "Android will have become the mobile platform which offers the highest business potential for mobile app developers".When Apple ...

Only three years since the project started, new research conducted at the Millennium Villages by Swedish mobile communications company Ericsson, The Earth Institute and Millennium Promise shows that quality and availability of health and education services have improved as a result of access to mobile connectivity.The recently published report, The Impact of Mobile Connectivity on the Millennium Development Goals in Africa, also shows increased benefits for small businesses by reducing transportation costs and making price and market information more ...

In my previous post on Memeburn, I outlined some practical etiquette tips for businesses delving into the murky world of social media marketing. But theory can only take you so far. It is in the application of these ideas that real lessons can be learned.Here are some great examples of international brand campaigns (in no particular order of preference) that have got it right. Tomorrow, I'll be showcasing another five campaigns that have got it miserably wrong – take ...

Kalahari.net, the country's largest online retailer, has introduced their own eBook reader, custom built in Adobe Air -- with a new eBook store to go with it.According to Bandwidth blog, the software is available for both Mac and PC. In the store, users can now search for, purchase and download from a collection of more than 180 000 titles already available on the site.To read eBooks from Kalahari, users need to download the ecommerce site's reader, a free ...

There have been a number of recent developments at WordPress which have proven that the company is as dynamic and fluid as it has ever been. Firstly, Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, announced the formal handing over of the WordPress trademark from Automattic (a for-profit company) to the WordPress Foundation, a non-profit organisation "dedicated to promoting and ensuring access to WordPress and related open source projects in perpetuity".This is in line with the ethos behind the WordPress brand ...

Eric Schmidt has an interesting job at Google. His official position is co-CEO with founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin but his job title should be CLR or Chief Lightning Rod because he is often entrusted with announcing unpopular policies or making comments that bring a lot of media attention, more than Page and Brin would welcome.Schmidt's lightening rod escapades extend to his off-the-cuff remarks. He's not known for his careful consideration of what he is about to say in ...

At the annual blog awards ceremony in the prestigious One & Only Hotel in Cape Town, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille spoke about how "bloggers are the new voice of society" and how blogs "link the local with the big picture".The premier, no slouch herself on the social media scene with around 115 000 Facebook friends and one of country's first verified Twitter accounts, said that digital communications were a "force for entrenching democracy"."Everything breaks immediately and is commented on ...

Sports stars around the world have embraced Twitter as a way of keeping their fans informed of what they are up to, and as a way to stay in touch with friends and families when they are on the road. Memeburn has put together a Twitter list of some of the most active tweeters in local rugby.Take a look, start following, and send us suggestions of players that we might have missed.@osdurandt Name Os du Randt Location Theunissen, South Africa Web Facebook Page Twitter ...

Social media is rarely out of the news these days, and it seems that everyone in South Africa is climbing aboard the Twitter bandwagon. I thought I would look back at recent events and see what lessons can be drawn.September has seen the #afrispam incident, which was reported on Memeburn by @andyhadfield. This was followed by a mindless Twitter Re-tweet campaign by @vodacom, inviting people to their iPhone 4 launch. Not to mention the @pigspotter storm in a teacup ...